


31 Days

by CurlyFriesFreak



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gay Keith (Voltron), M/M, Suicide, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-06-25 23:09:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15650841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CurlyFriesFreak/pseuds/CurlyFriesFreak
Summary: On August 1st, Lance McClain is found dead. A victim of suicide.But he shouldn't be dead. Not now. Not yet.So when a crazy moustached man approaches Keith Kogane and tells him that he's the only one who can save Lance by going back in time to stop it... Keith is unbelieving, to say the least.But suddenly waking up a month in the past on July 1st with a number on his hand, Keith realises this is real. And that he's really going to save Lance McClain- well, he's going to try.He doesn't even know this guy- but there's something about him that's worth saving. And maybe if he can save Lance, he can save himself too.





	1. August 1st

**Author's Note:**

> Hey peoples!
> 
> My first Klance fic! Ah- i hope i did my favourite ship justice! This is one of the ideas I've been thinking about for a while and i'm so excited to have it somewhat down on paper.  
> I really hope you enjoy it! Kudos and Comments are always appreciated!
> 
> Has everyone finished season 7? I thought it was really good! If you wanna chat about it in the comments though- let's focus on the positive things! I don't want any negativity! Thankie :)

August 1st.

It’s a sunny day.

It’s a sad day.

A family is mourning.

The tears won’t stop as they all sit around the dinner table, despite it being breakfast time. The paramedics do their thing, not much emotion showing in them, it’s not like they’ve never seen a dead body before. The McClain’s hadn’t. Now nothing will ever be the same for them. Their lives will never go back to normal ‘Gone before his time.’ People will say…

Those people will never know how right they are.

Invisible to Human sight, a ginger man stands with them too, crying for the life he could have saved.

The life he _should_ have saved.

* * *

 

Not far from there was a smaller family. Just two people, embracing the normalcy of the day as it comes.

“Keith! C’mon, you gotta eat before school.” Shiro said as he sipped his coffee.

Keith walked into the room a second after. His scraggy hair pulled back into ponytail, at least it kept it off his face.

“I’m feeling kinda queasy this morning actually.” Keith yawned, sitting down opposite Shiro.

He wasn’t lying. At around three in the morning he awoke with nasty stomach pains and he just couldn’t get rid of them. His stomach hadn’t let up at all and then his chest has started to hurt. Like there was something wrong with his heart. He guessed he shouldn’t have eaten so much junk the night before, but still he had barely slept a wink and the bags under his eyes were a big visible “fuck you!” from his body.

“Oh no,” Shiro started. “no, no, no- you’re not getting away from me that quickly. We’re talking about your grades no matter what.”

Keith rolled his eyes. Of _course_ , Shiro would think he was lying… the one time he wasn’t. Keith had been slacking with school, to say the least. Although that wasn’t entirely correct, he guessed. It just felt like a waste of time to him! He was pretty bright. _Very_ bright, but school didn’t challenge him. So, he had found a tactic that let he do as he pleased. Within reason.

“You’re gonna finish school with awful grades at this point. Keith, I know you can do so much more.” Shiro said encouragingly.

Keith grumbled slightly, the amount of times they had, had this chat was a joke. Keith couldn’t sit through it again. “Shiro… I know you’re worried- but honestly, I’m fine. I bet I’ll come out of school with the best grades of anyone there,” Keith answered knowingly. “Just trust me.”

Shiro sighed. “I do. You know I do, but I just… I just want what’s best for you,” Shiro had always been like that- looking out for him. Keith was… well he was eternally grateful. “And maybe now you could start… making some friends?”

“I have friends!” Keith said defensively.

Shiro chuckled. “At most, you have friend. Singular. And I’m not even sure you can count Pidge, considering you mostly chat online. And you met through Matt and I,” Keith opened his mouth to reply but Shiro beat him too it again. “And your wolf doesn’t count either.”

Keith frowned and looked down at the floor. As much as he would like to argue more… Shiro was right. Damn him. Keith had always just been more of a lone wolf. Speaking of wolf…

“Did you feed Cosmo?” Keith asked changing the subject.

Coincidentally, their pet wolf just walked in. Keith chuckled. They’d had him for only six months, but he was already house trained and everything. He was a loner too, so Keith and the beautiful creature had kind of banded together.

Shiro nodded. “Yeah, he’s a good boy.” He cooed, reaching down to scratch behind his ear.

Keith laughed. He quickly grabbed a piece of toast and hopped up. “Right well, I’ll be off. Have a good day. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.”

Shiro had a big interview today, for some job Keith didn’t really know about but hey- they needed to start bringing more money in. Shiro hit hm with the big confident two thumbs up and a thanks before Keith shut the door.

Immediately he threw the toast in the outside bin, his stomach wouldn’t be able to handle it. He pulled on his helmet- not like his hair could get any worse, and jumped on red. Revving his gorgeous engine, he shot off to school.

* * *

 

The whole school was called into a big emergency assembly mid-way through the day. Keith didn’t know what it was about, but he felt like it wouldn’t been good. He had this sinking feeling in his stomach as they all sat down in the giant auditorium. All their teachers were there and all the students too.

“Maybe we’re finally getting a pool!” A random girl behind Keith whispered excitedly. Keith rolled his eyes. That wasn’t school assembly worthy. In fact, the last time they had a big assembly like this was years ago when Alfor (Or, Mr. Princeps as he was supposed to be known. But since his daughter went to the school too, his identity wasn’t really hidden) had become the principle.

The chatter quietened down when Alfor stood up to the podium to speak.

“Welcome everybody,” He coughed a little. If you squinted, you could see his eyes were rimmed red. Had he been crying… “It is with great remorse that I call you all here today. Its never easy when we have to say goodbye to a loved one,” He took a quick pause to steady his breathing. “Early this morning, Lance McClain was pronounced dead in his own home,” A collective gasp of shock or disbelief left many peoples mouth, including Keith’s. “I… I wish I did not have to be the one to tell you this devastating news, it truly is a tragedy,” Tears were dripping down the teachers face now. “Lance was such a bright young boy, and I’m sure he was, to many of you, a great friend. As he was to my daughter. It truly is distressing when someone so young and so… so full of life is taken before their time. His parents and family have allowed me to share this news with you today, they know how much he meant to many of you here and we want you to know that he would not want you to mourn. He would want you to celebrate his life and his time here. Despite that, we will be ending classes early today and our councillor, Mrs. Olkari, will be here if any of you need her. Thank you all for being so respectful about all this and please, please talk to someone if you need help.” Alfor had stood down and embraced his daughter, Allura, who had run to him as soon as she could. Keith was vaguely awake of someone else talking to the students, but he couldn’t hear it. He felt something tickling his face and when he went to wipe it, he felt hot tears sitting there. What? He was… crying? But why? He didn’t even know the guy!

Still… his chest was tight, and his eyes wouldn’t stop dripping. It must be the mention of death. Its not a nice topic at all. Maybe it was just reminding him of his dad. That was probably it.

Soon people were leaving the auditorium. Some just looked empathetic, while others were bawling. And Keith wasn’t suprised. Lance was well known at school. He was popular and friendly and… _happy_. Part of the swimming team and the science club and sat at the big table at lunch surrounded by people. He and Keith were worlds apart but still- It was so sad. No one deserved death and Keith didn’t even know how he’d gone.

He shook his head and wiped his eyes one last time before following students out of the auditorium. As e exited though he saw a horrific sight. There, on the ground, practically screaming was a large guy, being comforted by a sniffling girl.

“No, no, no, no he’s not dead- he’s not. He can’t be…” It was Hunk, well his name was actually Tsuyoshi, but Lance had always called him Hunk and it had stuck. Lance and he were as close as anyone could be. Everyone knew that. And Pidge had joined their little friendship group later, along with Allura.

Pidge was the girl, actually called Katie. She sobbed quietly as he rubbed Hunks back. “Hunk,” She choked out, “Come on, lets just go home okay?"

Hunk shook his head. “Not dead, he’s not dead. Katie he’s not- I don’t want him to be dead.” He cried harder as Pidge helped him up, biting her lip so hard it looked like it would split.

She and Keith made eye contact for a moment before Keith nodded to her sympathetically, a nod she returned before slowly limping off with Hunk.

He hadn’t seen them in the assembly so maybe there were told separately about Lance? Keith frowned to himself. For some reason he felt like he should’ve been with them for that- and right now too, but he couldn’t work out why. He slapped his cheeks to try and reive himself and walked out of the school and then out of the gates to where red would be. When he got there, he saw a strange man in a cream trench coat and matching fedora and sunglass’s leaning up against his bike.

“Oi,” Keith called out. He did not have time for this. “What are you doing on my bike?”

The man noticed him, visibly jumping. He looked around and rushed over to Keith.

“You’re… Keith Kogane, correct?” He asked slyly, lowering his shades a tad.

“Uhm… yeah who’s asking?” Keith responded raising an eyebrow sceptically.

Suddenly the man whipped off his glasses, his eyes shining. Now Keith could see his face, he saw the deep-set wrinkles and the bright orange of his perfectly trimmed moustache. How bizarre.

“Thank the gods! I was starting to think you’d never show up! And boy then wouldn’t I have been well and truly quiznacked!” he exclaimed jubilantly, in an- huh, was that accent from New Zealand?

“Wait? What? Who are you and what’s a quiz- hurk!” the air was taken away from his lungs as the stranger wrapped and arm around his shoulders.

“That, my small friend, will be answered in due time. Now, come along.” He said, attempting to pull Keith along with him.

“Okay, listen here old man,” Keith said, yanking himself away from the weirdo. “I’m not going anywhere with you! I don’t know who the fuck you are, or why you’re trying to find me, but I haven done anything wrong!” He glared.

The old man raised his hands defensively. “Okay, okay! Not a touchy-feely guy! I get that, I respect that. And no Keith you didn’t do anything wrong but… I really did and now I need your help,” He took of his silly hat and stared deep into Keith’s eyes. “Please?”

Now Keith couldn’t tell you why he agreed to following this man out of he car park and into a coffee shop. Honestly, he really didn’t know why! Maybe it was some kind of… magic?

…nah.

He felt sorry for the crazy man. Maybe he was homeless or something.

Keith sat down at a table as instructed, while the stranger went to get coffee for them both. Damn… not homeless then.

It took all of three minutes for trench coat to come back to the table.

“I got you your favourite! Iced coffee with caramel syrup! I don’t know why you pretend to like black coffee, you’re only hurting yourself.” He chuckled as he sat down, just a water bottle in his hands for himself.

“What the fuck? How do you know so much about me? Are you my stalker or something? Because I don’t do anything gross like that for money you creep.” Keith practically spat at the guy. It was a defence he guessed, just in case this guy did try to do something weird. It was crazy, he felt like he could trust this guy though… he hated that easy trust.

“Gosh no! Not at all Keith! I’m sorry, I really haven’t gone about this in a good way, have I? hmm… How can I explain this without it wounding weird?” He mumbled to himself.

“With great difficulty I’d assume,” Keith scoffed. There was silence for a moment before Keith huffed. “Why don’t you start by telling me who you are.” He offered.

“Oh right!” He snapped his fingers though he hadn’t even realised Keith didn’t know him. “My name is Coran, I’m an Altean Guardian from upstairs if you know what I mean.” He winked, unsubtly.

Keith squinted at Coran. “I’m sorry you’re a what now?”

Coran opened his water and took a tiny sip. “An Altean Guardian,” He said again, slower this time. “Specifically, I’m Lance McClain’s… I think you call them Guardian angels?”

Keith glared at Coran. “Is this some kind of sick fucking joke?” He whispered harshly through gritted teeth. “Lance McClain died this morning. You don’t come back from death, crazy fake Guardian or not.”

Coran’s eyes watered. “I know he’s dead. Its my fault he’s dead.”

Keith scooted back in his chair. “You killed him?!” he exclaimed a bit too loudly.

“No! I did not kill- look Keith, Lance killed himself this morning because I wasn’t there to… to help him. I screwed up Keith and I need to you listen to me because I have to make this right again.” Coran pleaded desperately.

“…He killed himself?” Keith whispered quietly. What? Lance wouldn’t have! Keith didn’t even know him, and he knew how happy go lucky he was!

“Yes. At three AM, he swallowed a lot of pills. Way too many to ever come back from.” Coran rubbed his face in shame.

“Oh my God…” Keith was shocked. There was no proof and yet, he believed Coran. He really did.

“I did something bad Keith. I caused this.” He sounded broke. Keith reached across to hold his hand, softly. “What did you do?”

Coran then proceeded to tell Keith this-

“I’ve been Lances Guardian his whole life. Some peoples Guardians change with time but Lance… I loved Lance. He was so bubby and energetic, it was never hard to control his fate. That’s what we do- we help our humans when they’re feeling sad, and we know their whole lives from the very beginning as long as we don’t mess up. You know that feeling when you do something subconsciously or something good happens for no reason but becomes even greater than you could’ve imagined. Yeah, that’s us. We are your destiny. We’re not supposed to change anyone’s destiny. But I did, for the worse. Lance was struggling so I… I swapped humans with a Guardian I thought would help Lance better than I could- only temporarily! But she… she’s evil. At the time, I didn’t know it- she had always created really good lives for humans, but her most recent human… she started to play around with him. Created destinies for him that were… hard to cope with. No one noticed because sometimes Humans are born with struggles. But now… now my Human suffered worse than anyone.”

Keith sat back in his seat. That was… a lot to take in. so everyone’s fate was pre-determined. Kind of- it sounded like things could change but it was some kind of abnormality for Guardians?

What the fuck was all this anyway?

“So,” Keith cleared his throat. “You’re saying, Lance’s life got fucked up by some evil Guardian and now he’s dead… where exactly do I come into that?” He shrugged.

“You see- Humans have 3-5 things in their lives that shape them, set up their lives so that they can have a personality, a career, you know things like that! And usually they’re not changeable. Usually. However- a Guardian should always be present for each milestone but I mis-calculated. I thought I had longer until Lances next milestone, but it was during the time she took over and she stopped it happening!” Coran was seething.

“And that was…?” Keith inquired.

Coran looked around sheepishly. “Meeting you.” He whispered.

Oh, this shit could not be real. Not only were there some form of higher power in the world, oh no, apparently Keith was that important that a guy killed himself? No way. Absolutely not.

“Meeting me?” He let out a cynical laugh. “Yeah right! Like that matters.”

“It does Keith,” Coran said suddenly serious. “The important part I was missing out was that it was your Guardian that screwed over Lance. Her name is Haggar. She wasn’t supposed to be yours originally but circumstances… changed. I gave her the perfect chance to mess with your life even more. I am deeply sorry for that Keith.”

Keith felt his chest tighten. He was the toy… he was the one being played around with? Is that why his mum left? Why his dad died? Why he spent so many years alone, homeless, scared? What the fuck kind of bull shit was that?

“Bull shit. This is insane. You can tell whoever put you up to this that it didn’t work. And it wasn’t funny.” He said making to get up.

“Keith wait-“ He did. “Yes, Haggar has been wrong for a long time now, I’m sorry no one realised it sooner. But meeting Lance was your moment too. It was… it was supposed to the one thing that saved you both.”

“Me? I’m fine now! Why do we have to fix this? Huh? Why couldn’t anyone have saved my dad? No one stopped my pain when I needed it too.” He bit back his own frustrated tears.

“It was his time Keith. Haggar may have changed the reason he died, but he was always supposed to die then. Lance wasn’t. We’re still not sure how she did it. It should be impossible! But she did it. And we can change it!” Coran begged.

Keith shook his head standing up and making to walk away. “No thank you.” He huffed. Suddenly a had had gripped his wrist. “Hey-“

Corans eyes were a blinding bright blue. “I didn’t want to have to do this Keith. But you leave me no choice.”

The world went stat white for a moment- and then it was back. But it was like an outer body experience. He was watching…

Lance.

_“You’re just… way too into me. Its only been a month! And we’re just sleeping together!” A blond girl Keith kind of recognised said bitterly._

_“I just… I really like you.” Lance said sadly._

_She laughed. “Pathetic. Everyone knows you’re totally hung up on Allura anyway. And for what? She doesn’t like you.”_

_Lance clenched his fists before walking off._

The scene changed _._

_Lance was sitting at a hospital, next to an old lady in a bed._

_He slowly started to strum a guitar and hum softly before softly singing in Spanish._

_It wasn’t long before a nurse came over and told him to keep it down angrily._

_A tear rolled down Lances face. “Please wake up Abuela.”_

Another change

_“Lance… i-I’m sorry. It’s not that I don’t like you,” He saw Allura say. “I just don’t like you like that. There’s someone else.”_

_Lance laughed bitterly. “Can’t blame a guy for trying right?”_

_“Lance…” She cooed sympathetically._

_“I don’t need your pity Allura!” He suddenly flipped. “One day ill find someone better than you. So much better. I… I want to be alone.”_

One final flash to change to Lance crying on his bed.

_He sobbed furiously. No one was home so its not like it mattered. On his dresser was one single birthday card from Hunk. That was it. No one actually liked him. No one cared enough to come see him. Wold anyone care if he was gone?_

_…_

_…_

Keith choked on air as he was brought back to the present time, tears steaming down his face for the second time today. “What?” He coughed out scared. He had felt everything Lance had felt. Alone, mocked, depressed… who would’ve known he was actually struggling so much?

“You see?” Coran asked gently as he helped Keith sit back down.

Keith took a few deep breaths and took a long gulp of his coffee. What had he been thinking, ignoring an opportunity that he would’ve killed for when he was a kid. He would save a life!

“How do I help?” He asked, a new fierce determination fired up in him.

Coran smiled widely. “It’s relatively simple,” He announced confidently, so Keith knew it really wouldn’t be. “I’ve been saving up my do overs for a rainy day!”

“Do-Overs?” Keith quizzed.

“Oh! Like, if you mess up something for your human, you can go back a day and correct it.“ He explained as though it was logical.

“So, why not just go back and stop the suicide?” Keith asked in a duh tone.

“Because I wasn’t his Guardian a day ago! Haggar was- so I have to send you back to when I was his. That was around… a month ago? So, I’ll have to send you back 31 days! Luckily, that the exact date you were supposed to meet Lance anyway!” He proclaimed proudly.

“And you stop the exchange with Haggar while I… meet Lance I guess.” Keith tilted his head, unsure if he was correct.

Coran waggled his head around. “Ehhh, more or less! Though, we won’t go back in time- just the humans. Unless you change history anything Haggar already did will stay.” Coran nodded.

“So… its really just up to me then?” Keith sighed dejectedly.

“More or less!” Coran repeated.

Keith finished up his iced coffee. No use good coffee going to waste now is there?

“You gonna finish your water before we… do whatever we need to do I guess.” Keith asked, realising he still wasn’t entirely sure of what was going to happen. Part of him still thought it was fake. Or he was dreaming.

“Oh, no. I can’t consume much in my corporeal state anyway!” he said tossing the almost full bottle into the bin with perfect accuracy.

Keith blinked hard, just to make sure this was reality, before he stood up.

“So, how do we do this?” Keith asked as they exited the shop.

“I can do it anytime you like- sooner rather than later please. I didn’t save up my do-overs for one stint.” Coran glared, jokingly of course.

Well. Why not go now? This reality wouldn’t be the same reality soon anyway.

“Alright. Let’s do this. Oh, but one thing before. What happens if I… uh… fail?” Keith asked nervously.

“I get banished and your life gets progressively worse for all eternity.” Coran point blank said.

“Right,” Keith nodded. “No pressure then?”

“Just a tad.”

Keith took a look around at the empty street. He sighed. He would change all of this… could he? Part of him was still sure it was some kind of strange dream he was stuck in. He’d wake up soon.

Coran held out his hands and Keith slipped his into them. Suddenly the world around them went white and Coran changed? Suddenly he was dressed in a form fitting purple and blue suit, his ginger hair styled swept back, his moustache stayed the same. More strikingly, two small blue marks appeared on the top of his cheeks and they were glowing! He was chanting some language Keith had never heard. He was scared…

But suddenly Coran’s eyes glowed the blue of his marks. And Keith felt soothed.

“I believe in you Keith. Good Luck.” He whispered before Keith’s world went dark.

* * *

 

Keith awoke with a gasp. His body jerking as he frantically sat up and looked around. Everything looked… normal. Keith breathed out a sigh of relief. A stupid dream. A strange one too. He should really write this shit down- he’d make a killing!

He rolled over to catch a couple more minuets sleep and came face to face with a ginger moustache.

“Rise and shine sunshine!”

Keith screamed and scooted back, falling off his bed.

“Keith!” He heard footsteps running to his door and slamming it open. “Keith! Are you okay?” Shiro asked, slightly dishevelled, obviously having woken up from Keith’s yell.

“I’m- I’m fine. Just fell out of bed is all.” He lied. He glanced over to Coran. And then back to Shiro. Was he not gonna question the old man in his bed?

Shiro sighed in relief. “I’m glad. I was worried. Well, since I’m up, I’m gonna make breakfast, get ready now.” He told Keith with a nod, rubbing the sleep from his eyes before going out of his room.

Keith was in confused shock for a moment before looking up at Coran or some answers.

“Ah, he can’t see me. I’m only visible to you.” Coran said with a smile.

“Coran. What. The. Fuck?!” Keith whisper yelled.

“Surprise! It worked!” Coran said gleefully.

Keith grabbed his phone and looked at the date. Sure enough- there in bold:

**July 1 st**

Keith let out a huff of amusement. “Well shit,” he chuckled before turning to Coran with a glare “Wait, there was a chance it wouldn’t work?”

Coran waved his hand around. “Oh, pish. A small chance that we could’ve erased your existence, but,” He said quickly before moving on. “We made it. We’re back.”

Keith nodded. Right. He had a mission to accomplish. “I’m still really freaked out by all this you know? Like, are you always gonna be here? Will anyone see you? What am I even supposed to do? Just go up to Lance and be like ‘Oh, hey guy I don’t know- how about not dying this time round?” Keith frantically ran a hand though his messy hair.

“Keith calm down. All you’re gonna do is meet Lance. Don’t mention anything about this situation! Just… be his friend. And no- I’m your Guardian currently, so just you see me. I’m not always gonna be here but I will always be,” He paused, placing a hand over his heart “Here.”

Keith rolled his eyes. He could do this. Yeah? Yeah! It wouldn’t be that hard. It was just talking to people.

…

Yeah, he was definitely gonna suck at this!

“Why does it have to be me anyway? Lance has tons of them! Hunk- he could do this better than me!” Keith told Coran honestly.

“It has to be you Keith! You’re… special.” He finished Lamely. “Besides! We’re here now- and the deal has been sealed.”

Sealed? What did he-?

“Ow! Fuck, what was that?” Keith felt a sharp pain in his hand. He looked at his right hand, there carved into his skin was a number:

**31**

He looked at Coran again- this man… he was so irritating!

“It’s a countdown! Don’t worry, only you can see it! Its my magic, it links us! Isn’t that sweet?” He coughed awkwardly at Keith’s glare. “Ahem. Well anyway. No turning back now! Today’s the big day!” He grinned excitedly. He was just so happy he could fix this. He wanted Lance alive and happy. And now he could be.

Keith yawned. “Fine. I’m gonna go shower,” He pulled his towel off the hook on the back of his door. He turned back to Coran. “Don’t… Don’t watch me okay?” He told Coran with slight anger.

Coran slyly winked. “No promises- ah!” He yelped when something was thrown at him. “Ha! Jokes on you, I’m not corporeal right now!” He poked his tongue out.

“Keith! Stop throwing things around and get ready!” Shiro’s muffles voice came from down stairs.

Keith growled. “You. Just stay there.”

“It’s fine, I was going now anyway,” Corn said standing up. “Besides, I’ve seen you do much worse the first time you did this month.”

Keith hurled something else at Coran, just to see him disappear with a yelp.

“KEITH!” Shiro yelled again in warning.

Keith sank to the floor. His head tilted back, he shut his eyes tightly breathing slowly becoming normal again.

What the fuck did he sign himself up for?


	2. 31 Days Remaining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for Keith to get his ass in gear and meet Lance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!
> 
> Sorry for the wait- i just got a new job and I've been prepping for a part time drama school course I'm going on- everything decided to happen at once! aha!  
> Hope you enjoy the next chapter! Kudos and Comments are always appreciated! That you so much for the nice comments on the first chapter! They made me smile so much!
> 
> anyway, enough of me rambling- onto the show!

Shockingly, Coran had disappeared when Keith returned to his room.

_‘Good,_ ’ he thought to himself. ‘ _Finally, I can relax.’_ Though it really didn’t comfort him that the old man (Or guardian or whatever) could be watching him anytime. He shuddered as he thought about it. He quickly changed and went downstairs.

“Morning,” He mumbled to Shiro as he entered the room, going directly for the kettle. Cosmo was immediately next to him, waiting for Keith to scratch his head. “And good morning to you, good boy.”

“Good morning,” Shiro replied, raising an eyebrow. “You look shaken, everything okay?”

Keith shrugged “Bad dream, its whatever.” He lied easily. Well what was he supposed to say? _‘Oh yeah, I’m Keith from the future- here to save the world!’_ yeah right. Like that would sound sane.

“Oh, sorry. That sucks. Wanna talk about it?” He offered.

“No, thanks Shiro but I’m good.” He nodded, pouring his coffee into a mug and adding a generous helping of sugar.

“Have some coffee with that sugar Keith.” Shiro joked, chuckling to himself.

“Ha. Funny,” Keith rolled his eyes. These dad jokes were not worth his time.

He took a sip of his coffee, burning his tongue in the process but not really minding. He had done it so many times now it was second nature to anticipate the burn. His mind wondered momentarily. It was… July 1st. God, he wished he’d payed more attention to his days, then he might know what would happen that day.

…Or what would have happened, he guessed. His days would be totally different now. Wild. It was still kind of unreal.

“What’s your plan for the day?” Keith asked Shiro, Cosmo walked back to his bed, so he sat at their table for a second. He’d leave for school soon, but it didn’t take long on his bike.

“Not much, just work,” Oh yeah! Shiro still had his job. And if Keith remembered correctly, it would only be a few days until he lost it. Shit. Could he stop it? “And nothing after. I mean, some guys from work are going out for a few drinks but… ah, I’m not really feeling it.” He shrugged.

“Oh yeah, that’s fair,” Keith agreed. He wasn’t a people person usually, so it was pretty relatable. “Shiro, do you… do you like your job?” He asked nervously.

Shiro hesitated. “I do,” He said slowly. “I mean, its not what a really want to be doing, but I need the money- we need the money. Savings can only last so long. Why?”

“Right… No reason.” Well that felt shitty. It wasn’t his main task to help Shiro but… well he was here now! So why not try to help everyone?

Eventually, he chugged down the remains of his coffee and headed out to his bike. Like he said, school didn’t take him long to get to at all.

He parked quickly and looked over to where a tall, skinny blonde girl was smoking with a beefier guy with shaggy hair. He recognised the girl immediately- she was from Lance’s past month. He shot her a nasty glare as he walked by. She looked confused, rightly so, but it made Keith feel good either way.

Keith entered the school and walked through the corridors, trying to work out where he could even find Lance. He stopped by a window and checked his reflection. He definitely didn’t look as tired as he had the day prior. Or… the month later- it was hard to phrase! He looked better okay? He ran fingers through his hair, fixing it after he’d worn the helmet on his journey there. Well… that was as good as it would get! He continued on and suddenly happened to glance in an empty classroom that had it’s door wide open, and saw the very person he was looking for already there.

Keith was surprised it was that easy! He swallowed nervously and walked into the room too. It was empty for independent study, so it wasn’t weird that he just walked in too. Lance didn’t even look up, he was so absorbed in what he was reading. Keith sat down at a near-by table and took out his phone, looking as though he was texting. How was he supposed to start chatting? No small talk, that was lame. So what could he say?

He glanced over at Lance subtly and caught sigh of the book he was reading. ‘Will Grayson, Will Grayson’. Huh. It didn’t sound very familiar… maybe he could ask him about it? Looking again he saw the authors name and took a deep breath, here he went.

“Hey, that’s by that guy who wrote the sad book about the kids with cancer right?” He asked. God, could he have said it any worse?

Lance’s eyes flicked up to him- God he was stunning. His tanned skin was blemish free, perfect jawline and his blue eyes really stood out. Wow, Keith’s gay heart was in trouble.

“Sorry, did you say something?” Lance asked, tilting his head as he removed an earphone from his ear. Dammit Keith! Earphones! Although, this did give him a chance to re-word his opening.

“Ah- oh I was just asking about the book you’re reading. ‘John Green’, he’s the author of that faults and stars book, right?” Well it was better okay?

Lance smiled amused. “You mean ‘the fault in our stars’ yeah?”

“Right.” Keith nodded awkwardly.

“Yeah, same guy. Co-author of this one though. I dunno, its kind of lame I guess but I kinda got into his books after the first one and this one is. So. Good,” He enthused, taking out the other earphone to chat more. “It’s about two guys with the same name who meet, and I mean, both authors have such unique styles, and flitting between their lives is really interesting. They even have different writing styles its great! I’d recommend it.” He advised, his eyes shining with excitement.

Keith nodded slowly. “I’ll uh- I’ll have to check it out. Sounds kind of interesting.”

Lance laughed. “You don’t have to lie, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.”

“No, no,” Keith insisted. “It really does sound interesting. I would feel super weird to meet someone with my name.”

Lance laughed. “Yeah, me too! It would be crazy,” He shut his book now. “You’re Keith, right?”

Keith’s eyes widened in shock. “You know me?” He asked, bewildered.

“Please, I’d recognise that mullet anywhere. You can’t have such a standout hairstyle and not get noticed.” Lance teased.

Keith ran a nervous hand through his hair. Was that an insult or…? “Oh right…”

“Dude,” Keith looked up at him. “I’m messing with you, we have a couple classes together. Gym, Music, that kinda stuff?” Ah yes, the things Keith actually put effort into. “I’m Lance, by the way. You know, just in case you didn’t know.”

Oh, he knew. It wasn’t like he was going to say anything though! “Sorry, yeah. Just weird someone like you noticing someone like me.”

Lance raised a thin eyebrow. “Explain?” He asked.

“Not in a bad way!” Keith was really fucking this up, jeez. “Just that you’re popular and I’m…” He chuckled. “Not.”

Lance scoffed and rolled his eyes. “That doesn’t mean anything. Popularity doesn’t count for anything in the real world. You’re better off. The more people who know you, the more you can disappoint them. Or get hurt,” His eyes were serious for a second. “Wow, sorry that was… I swear I’m much more fun loving usually. Just got some bad news is all.”

“Oh…” Keith said, his eyes filling with sympathy. “Do you wanna talk about it?” He offered quickly.

Lance looked surprised for a moment before a small smile graced his face. “Nah, its cool. I don’t wanna bring the mood down,” He paused for a minute. “Thanks man.”

“No problem.” Keith nodded.

There was a moment of silence before a new voice entered the room. “Lance! Hunk wants you to come check out our science project before class,” In walked Pidge, her big glasses falling down her nose as she stormed into the room. She suddenly noticed him. “Oh, hey Keith.”

Keith was shocked for a moment- remembering the last time he saw Pidge she was bawling with Hunk in tow. It was hard to believe that hadn’t happened.

Wouldn’t happen.

“Hey Pidge.” Keith greeted.

“You two know each other?” Lance asked, confused.

“Yeah, our brothers are friends and we play online sometimes.” Pidge explained with ease.

“Oh cool! What do you play?” Lance asked intrigued as he packed up his stuff.

“That new multiplier game, Voltron?” Keith said, unsure if Lance had heard of it. He and Pidge actually moved on from that game back in the other universe, so Keith had kind of forgotten they’d been so into it at one point.

“No way! I love that game! Pidge, Hunk, and I always play it- and Allura sometimes too, but it’s kinda awkward to play together because we’re both blues. What colour do you main?” Lance asked excitedly.

“Uh, I mostly main Red.”

Lances jaw dropped. He turned to Pidge. “So, you’re telling me, we’ve been looking for a Red paladin for ages now and you knew one and never said?!” Lance gasped. “Pidge! How could you?”

Pidge raised her hand defensively. “Hey, don’t blame me if I didn’t want to bring Keith into our weird clan. He’s way too good for us.”

“Bullshit! Not fair, Pidge- not fair! Keith would love to play a round with us I’m sure!” He looked over to Keith, eyes shining bright- he was desperate.

Keith laughed softly. “I mean, sure. My brother kinda likes that game too, he’s a black paladin if that helps at all?”

To say Lance freaked out would be an understatement. “Pidge! Black and red! You know what that means?”

Pidge grinned. “We could form-“ Lance interrupted her. “We could form Voltron! Oh man!”

“Keith,” He turned to him again. “We have to play. All of us! I’ve never got to form Voltron before. It would truly be a bonding experience!” He sighed in wonder.

“Yeah!” Keith said a little too fast. “Sounds like fun, I know Shiro would be down for it too.”

“Shiro?” Lance questioned.

“My brother.” Keith explained, Lance making a face of understanding.

“Are you sure Keith?” Pidge said sceptically. “I mean, you don’t even wanna play with me sometimes, let alone four others…”

Keith didn’t wanna sound too different from his usual loner self, but Pidge was totally blowing his cover right now! He needed a good in with Lance.

“I’ve kind of been finding that it’s hard to enjoy the game solo, I mean, you can’t take down the Galra empire on your own. Trust me- I’ve tried.” He conversed.

“Then its settled!” Lance decided, hoisting up his bag. “We’ll all play together sometime! It’ll be awesome. Anyway, nice chatting with you Keith- come have lunch with us sometime yeah?” Lance grinned.

“Later Keith.” Pidge said, raising her finger in a mock salute as her and Lance left the room.

“Seeya.” Keith said, practically to the empty room now that the two had left.

Keith released a breath. That… hadn’t been as hard as he’d been thinking. Lance was kind of a nerd at heart. And he was easy going and nice… Keith couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. His chest ached thinking that this guy wasn’t happy… he would make sure he got love.

Love? Maybe not love- that was a bit quick. Respect and… friendship were probably better.

“Well, that went smashing I think!” A twangy voice said in Keith’s ear.

He jumped letting out a tiny yelp. “Christ Coran!” He breathed. “Please. Some warning.”

“Sorry pal, just got a bit over excited there- I love seeing my boy so happy.” Coran said, a proud look in his eye.

As sweet as that was… “Coran you can’t be here when I’m at school, I’ll look crazy talking to you!” Coran opened his mouth to speak but Keith continued. “Make that anywhere in public actually. If you start talking to me, I’ll have to ignore you.” He let out a harsh whispered, checking no one around him could see him.

Coran rolled his eyes. “Alright, I’ll stay away. For the most part. Just wanted to let you know you’re doing a stellar job! Keep going like this and you’ll have him safe in no time at all.” Coran said, shooting him a toothy grin and a thumb up before disappearing.

Keith sighed. Yeah, he hoped. it wasn’t going to be that easy though, stopping someone’s death… that was major. But he was taking the right steps. And that- in his books, was good progress.

* * *

 

The first couple lessons of the day were easy. They always were in the lower sets. Even more so now that he had already had these lessons once. He was going to be so bored during the school sections of the day. But luckily now was lunch. Keith could handle lunch.

He entered the cafeteria and walked up to the que. It was relatively short, which was nice. A sandwich and a drink later he was ready to go sit but herein lies the problem- where?

Sure, Lance had invited him over to sit- but that was the big table. So many people… it might be too much for Keith. But at the same time, if he didn’t go, Lance might think he doesn’t like him and that would be that- game over.

Before Keith even had a chance to choose a voice called out. “Keith!” He looked over and saw Lance, toothy grin and all, waving at him from his table.

Okay, big table it was.

Keith approached at a shuffles pace, his stomach already filling with nerves.

“Hey buddy,” Lance greeted. “We saved you a seat, just in case you decided to drop by.” Said seat was right next to Lance. Keith smiled shakily, his nerves ever present

“Thanks.” He said quietly as he sat down.

“So this is my best buddy Hunk,” Lance said cheerfully, gesturing across from him to the large man. “Best chef in the world and also best at hugs- true story.”

Hunk smiled. “How’s it going?” He said casually.

“Obviously you already know tech wiz Pidge,” She grinned. “And- here she is lady of the hour! How is the beautiful Allura?”

Now Keith had seen Allura from a far, but nothing could prepare you for the beauty that sat down next to Hunk. Keith wasn’t interested in girls as all, but even he could tell what a stunner she was. Long white hair contrasted against her beautiful dark skin, and her eyes were so bright she could be a goddess.

“Lance,” She said rolling her eyes. “Do we really need to hear this every day?” She asked, jokingly.

Lance nodded “We sure do! And you’d better get used to it. Once I make you a McClain you’ll hear it every morning and night.” He winked, it made Keith’s mouth go sour.

“Oh Lance…” She laughed it off, waving her hand dismissively. She suddenly noticed Keith. “Hi, I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Allura.” She smiled radiantly, holding her hand out.

Keith took it and shook it lightly. “Keith. Nice to meet you.”

Lance introduced him to a few more people at the table. The beefy guy from earlier, he found out was called Rolo, a man with long white hair that rivalled Allura’s, Lotor, And the girl- that bitch from the visions. Nyma. God she even sounded vile. She still didn’t know why Keith was shooting her daggers, but it was whatever. She didn’t have to know.

Keith didn’t talk a lot. He wasn’t used to this many people at once, and as much as he wanted to get close to Lance as soon as possible it was impossible anyway with all these people around.

Slowly, residents of the table started to drift off into different areas of the lunch hall or just got ready to go to class. It was at that moment, Keith noticed that Lance was having some kind of telepathic conversation with her. _Nyma._

She was batting her eyes at him, her low-cut shirt showing way too much boob as she twirled her hair around her finger and licked her lips. Keith almost scoffed out loud.

But Lance… he was falling for it. Hook, line, and sinker. He really wanted to pull him to the side ad tell him it was a bad idea but… you can’t say that to someone you just met. Nyma suddenly winked at him and began to leave the room.

Lance abruptly stood up. “Ahh, well it sure has been fun, but I’d better be getting off now! Great lunch guys!” He said scrambling up hid belongings and following Nyma and her swaying hips as they left the cafeteria.

Keith looked around at Lances close friends. They all had looks of concern on their faces. “Oh awesome, I’m glad its not just me who thinks that’s weird.” Keith mumbled to himself more than others.

“Right?!” Hunk said quickly. “See! I told you guys anyone could see the damage in that… whatever it is.”

Allura nervously looked around. “I know Hunk, but we really can’t say anything. If he wants to get involved with her…”

Hunk rolled his eyes. “I think it’s ridiculous, she’s clearly using him.”

“Seconded.” Pidge chipped in.

“You’re an outsider Keith,” Hunk said, wincing at his words. “Not in a bad way! Just… what do you think?” They were all looking at him now.

He swallowed hard. “Well its… its not my place at all to say what you guys can or can’t do, and I don’t know either of them very well but… Yeah I could see that she is potentially using him.” Keith said nervously.

The three of them looked around at each other apprehensively. “We… think so too.” Allura said sadly.

“It’s been going on for way too long, we really should do something about it! I mean, come on! He’s gonna get his heart broken.” Pidge sulked sadly.

Keith found it do hard to chime in, he _knew_ that Lance would get hurt. Badly. And he didn’t want to see him go through that.

“I’m not meddling in Lances love life- he’s my best friend!” Hunk defended.

“It’s not meddling! Its more… gentle persuasion. If we put someone even more beautiful in front of him that’s interested…” Pidge dwindled off, looking at Allura

Allura’s eyes went wide. “Oh no, I’m not leading Lance on to get him away from Nyma, that makes me just as bad as her.”

Keith decided to speak up. “So, you’re not interested in Lance?” He asked- he knew she wasn’t, but he was trying to make friends.

“Umm…” Allura hummed. “I do like him. Just… we’re not compatible in that way. He’s lovely and funny and sweet but he’s just not right for me.”

“We know Allura, you don’t have to feel bad for not liking him.” Hunk comforted.

“Well maybe it would help if you didn’t always try to get with him when your drunk at parties…” Pidge mumbled, just loud enough for the three of them to hear.

“Excuse me?” Allura gasped, her eyebrows narrowing.

“Hey, Pidge, come on now.” Hunk looked concerned.

“No. Its not fair. You can’t just go to him because he’s a nice guy who- shock horror- _likes_ you, when you’re sad and lonely. If you don’t like him, stop fucking with his heart okay? Maybe he’s better off with Nyma.” Pidge sulked. She stood up and began to walk off.

“Pidge wait!” Hunk called out. She flipped him the bird and continued to leave the hall.

Allura coughed awkwardly. “Well… that was…” She sighed.

Keith was shocked. He had always assumed that they were a tight group. You know, thicker than thieves! But seeing them in action he could see now that they were falling apart. No wonder Lance didn’t get any better, he had no support network to go too. Sure, Hunk and Pidge were always there for him- but they seemed to have their own issues. Same with Allura. Keith ran a hand through his hair. Coran didn’t tell him about any of _this_. God, there was so much he needed to fix.

“Sorry Keith, I’m sure you didn’t want our problems on you.” Hunk apologised sheepishly.

“No, don’t worry about it,” Keith nodded. “It’s no big deal, we all have problems, you know? And if anything, I think you guys should talk more about the big issues. Because sitting on your problems isn’t good for anyone.” Keith explained. He should know. He’s done it his whole life.

Allura and Hunk nodded. “Well, you’re not wrong.” Allura said sadly.

“It just seems like recently we’ve all been drifting apart.” Hunk looked down at the table.

“Well…” Keith was awful at advice, but here went nothing. Lances damn life was on the line! “Have you guys talked to Lance about Nyma? Whether he’s really into her or if maybe he’s just in it for fun too? Maybe you could even try to get to know her if he is serious.” This was good. If he could get them all to chat with Lance about it, to get them all to like Nyma too- that vision wouldn’t happen! And Lance could be happy!

Well then why did the thought of Nyma and Lance staying together hurt so much?

“I suppose you’re right,” Allura said, a little happier now. “It wouldn’t hurt to get to know her. She’s probably not that bad…”

“Right,” Hunk piped up. “And, if Lance is just in it for fun too then it doesn’t really matter anyway. If its not serious he probably won’t be hurt. Hey, thanks Keith. Where have you been our whole lives?” He joked, jabbing Keith in the arm.

Keith laughed. “Around.” He smiled. Maybe he was what they needed.

The bell soon sounded, and Keith was asked to exchange numbers with Hunk and Allura. Bam! Day 1 and he was already making progress.

Keith felt pretty good about himself after lunch that day. But he still had far to go.

* * *

 

The rest of the day was uneventful. It was school that he had already done, and he hadn’t had any classes with Lance.

He realised as the day was coming to a close that he probably should’ve tried a bit harder to get Lances number. Damn, he would have to wait until tomorrow. That sucked, he couldn’t get any more progress with Lance!

He shrugged it off and made his way back to his bike. At lease the ride home would be relaxing. He might even take the long way home.

“Keith!” He heard a loud voice call just as he had approached his vehicle. He turned and saw Lance walking towards him. Oh amazing! He had a chance!

“Hey,” Keith greeted. “What’s up?”

“No way is this your ride.” Lance said in disbelief.

“She sure is.” He said proudly, patting her back. Or, seat if we were getting technical.

“Woah,” Lance said walking around it “Its so sweet. Must’ve cost you a fortune.”

“Yeah all the parts were pricey sometimes. But it was worth it.” Keith smiled.

“You built it?” Lance said, retuning to shocked.

“Partly, she was an old one my brother had before he…” Ugh, best not to bring up bad memories. “Anyway, I fixed her up real nice. And now she’s mine.”

“That’s awesome man!” Lance laughed, it was only then Keith noticed the small mark on Lances neck that wasn’t there earlier. Lance saw his eyes glance down and up, his hand slamming into his neck in shyness. “Oh, aha, that just…”

Keith laughed, even though his stomach was churning. “Lance, its fine. No need to be embarrassed, you weren’t very covert earlier.”

Lances face was dusted with a light pink. “O-Oh yeah… well, yeah. She’s super dreamy don’t you think?” He didn’t give Keith time to answer. “And she likes me- Me! Ha!” He laughed gleefully.

Oh crap. He was falling too hard too fast. And he knew how it would end. “Sounds great…” He trailed off. He couldn’t say anything just yet. “So what are you up to now?” Keith asked.

“I’ve got work. Annoying, but its not a bad job and the moneys good. Ugh, I just wanted to go and nap really though.” Lance stressed.

“Where do you work?” He asked, curious about where he could ‘run into’ Lance out and about.

“The Balmera. It’s a coffee shop in town, I work with Shay, you know her? She sits at our table sometimes, but she wasn’t there today. Sweet girl, I’m trying to set her up with Hunk.” He smiled.

“That’s nice, well sound okay anyway. If you’re around coffee, I’m sure it can’t be that bad,” He joked. “I-I’d offer you a lift, but I didn’t bring my spare helmet.” He scratched the back of his head nervously.

“It’s cool, I don’t know if I’d be confident enough to ride on one of those just yet even if you did!” Lance laughed. “Besides, I like to walk. The suns out and its refreshing.”

Keith couldn’t relate. Outside and him? Hell no. He was pale, and bugs loved him for some reason.

“Well, just let me know if you ever want a ride and I’ll bring it.” Keith nodded.

Lanced grinned widely. “Thank man, you’re a cool guy. Why have we never spoken before now?”

Keith waved a hand. “I dunno, fate and destiny and all that crap.”

They shared a smile.

“Hey,” Lance suddenly said, getting his phone out. “What’s your number? If we’re gonna play Voltron sometimes I’ll need to contact you sometime. Besides, Hunk and the guys said you were pretty cool. Play your cards right and you could be in our awesome group chat! Trust me its super exclusive.” Lance winked laughing.

“I look forward to it.” Keith joked.

They exchanged numbers before Lance had to go before he was late.

Keith watched him walk away a little bit before he hopped on his bike and set off. He waved a hand to Lance as he passed him, getting a wave in return.

Nice.

He was on the right track for sure.

He got home, fed Cosmo and headed upstirs to chill on his bed. He traced the 31 engraved into his skin. It would change tomorrow. Time was ticking, but he was confident.

Cosmo pushed his door open and jumped up on his bed. It felt weird, not having the stronger connection they had previously had, but Keith knew how to get them back there.

“Hey champ,” He cooed, scratching behind is ears. “I know you probably don’t understand me but I’ve had a wild couple days…” He continued to chat to the wolf as he felt his phone vibrate. He opened the text.

**Lance:** Great talking today, lets hang out real soon yeah?

And if Keith’s heart skipped a beat and his face spit into a smile…

Well no one had to know.


End file.
